Sweat or Wet?

I rode to the next town west today (Herndon, VA).  There's a Great Harvest bread store there (awesome breads -- if you have one near you and haven't tried it, you MUST).  They give samples.  We LIKE samples!  I also needed to pick up our favorite loaf, Apple Scrapple, since my mom arrives this evening for graduation Thursday afternoon.  This is the link for the Herndon store -- you can see their menu and their "home town" approach.

One of my daughter's friend's dad works there.  They immigrated (legally) from Guatamala about ten years ago.  He works two jobs, and his wife works as well so their three children will be able to succeed in America.  The kids are 16, 10, 8.  The oldest already works part-time during the school year and full time in the summer.  She's a year behind my daughter, so every time I'm in there I talk to her to dad about scholarships and preparing his kids for college. It always floors me how little the immigrant parents from Central American really understand about how to access the higher education system in this country.  I'm looking forward to sitting down with them one evening this summer and trying to map out a plan, not just for their daughter, but for the younger boys as well.

Look how cool the new bike racks are!  Herndon has an old-timey downtown and they do a good job of preserving its character.  I love the whimsy of these -- and the marked off parking places!

At any rate, since I talk about my bike all the time, I thought I'd show you a photo.  This is before the rain started.  Yeah -- 5 miles home getting soaked.  All in a good cause, right?

It's a Bianchi road bike, purchased in Germany 22 years ago.  I've replaced the seat and tires, but the Shimano brakes and gears are original and still working pretty well --- okay, the middle gear is starting to slip more and more -- but after 22 years, I think I've gotten my money's worth!

Last night my son agreed with me to try a 26 mile ride this summer.  That's from our town center out to the end of the W&OD trail.  I did 10 today in the rain, without anyone to talk to -- twice that in dry weather with someone for company should be a lot easier.  Still, I think I'd better start extending my mileage!

If you click on it, you can see where the green line crosses the county line between Fairfax and Loudoun.  That's close to where we start and head west, all the way out to Purcellville.  Did I mention that Purcellville is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge?  As in mountains?  So our plan, the first time, is to have my husband drive us out to Purcellville with the bikes racked and then we'll ride back towards home.  Better to do it the first time in a downhill elevation, I think!

If it gets to the end of the summer and you haven't seen me post "I did it!", feel free to harass me!